AndrewHickey comments on Best career models for doing research? - Less Wrong

27 Post author: Kaj_Sotala 07 December 2010 04:25PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 10 December 2010 10:50:52PM 1 point [-]

His less-famous novels aren't as good. On the other hand, some of his essays are among the clearest, most intelligent thinking I've ever come across, and would probably be of a lot of interest to LessWrong readers...

Comment author: David_Gerard 10 December 2010 11:12:44PM *  0 points [-]

Oh yeah. Politics and the English Language is a classic on a par with the great two novels. I first read that in 1992 and wanted to print copies to distribute everywhere (we didn't have internet then).

Comment author: MBlume 10 December 2010 11:45:43PM 1 point [-]

I'm terribly curious now -- did the use of any of the phrases Orwell singles out in the article actually drop significantly after the article was published? Wikipedia will not say...

Comment author: David_Gerard 10 December 2010 11:52:26PM 1 point [-]

Well, reading it in the 1990s and having a burnt-out ex-Communist for a housemate at the time, I fear I recognised far too many of the cliches therein as current in those circles ;-)

Comment author: [deleted] 10 December 2010 11:58:18PM 1 point [-]

A lot are still current in those less rational/more angry elements of the left who still think the Labour Party represents socialism and use phrases like that to justify themselves...

Comment author: [deleted] 10 December 2010 11:37:13PM 1 point [-]

Yeah, that's one of those I was thinking of. Also things like the piece about the PEN 'anti-censorship' event that wasn't, and his analysis of James Burnham's Managerialist writing...